renvagn

I feel Conti is some of the best (if not the best) racing when things go well, a real yawner when we have 6 yellows in a race. Couldn't agree more; it along with moto GP provides some of the best wheel to wheel racing out there. I still enjoy watching my DVD's of the 944 turbo cup from yesteryear with the likes of Spenard, Fellows, Emringham and Adams who raced door to door around Temblat and Mosport and never put a scratch on either car. GA needs to clean there act up. A more substantial time penalty and a monitary fine payable to the car they wrecked would most likely be a step in the correct direction.

jrgordonsenior

Thanks Mark C. for your insights from a participant's perspective. With wrecks down in NASCAR I think the France's figured out that wrecks in GA could be just as profitable for them.....

mcongleton

The other problem is how do you penalize a driver of a "factory team" that is bringing a lot of coprorate $$ to the series. There are several factory teams that I believe GA is afraid to punish, not only for overly agressive driver's but for rule infraction (cheating) which is determined post race.

If you have never been to a GA race you would be shocked to see the amount of $$ that is spent not only on the cars, which are not cheap (well over $100K for a good ST car) but the haulers, pit equipment, crew, meals, lodging etc.

Hello Cup car.

Mark

dan212

I like the series and it can be as fun to watch as Rolex etc.. More in some cases. But the crashfest at RA was incredible. Yet there was some amazing driving in by some teams that was memorable even with some of the not so amazing stuff in other cases.

As for the WGI race. It was much more peaceful - although I can't quite understand the BMW that slid sideway to the outside of T6 and then drove back into the apex and nailing (I think it was) an STI car. Strange stuff.

You see some really sublime and poised driving in there too.

paradisenb

The factory teams are a financial blessing to the series, but a detriment to the privateers. GA is going to cuddle them because of the cash. I can see how they would let them fudge the rules so they run up front. Often the drivers in those cars take out competitors just to get TV exposure for the factory.

The $$ disparity alone is enough to drive out the smaller teams who feel it is a waste to play in a rigged system. Repairing the car every other race is not sustainable for privateers who have no big payday at the end of the rainbow. Nobody is going out to their dealerships to buy cars and sponsors are reluctant to provide support to non-front running teams.

Curious if anyone has any ideas how this could work? Isn't there some series in Europe that splits the field between the factory backed teams and the privateers? BTC? I think it is the one where they run the Saids, Chevy Cruzes and Peugeots. Fun series to watch. To few races shown on Speed. Maybe that would help GA CC.

Streak

I would agree with this. I have no love for the DP's particularly now that Porsche is out. They just aren't that fun to watch. I much prefer the GT cars but the coverage focuses on DP. Conti is some great racing when the cautions are minimized and there is always someone having a good fight. Truly good stuff.

dp35

It seems like its not only factory money that has a bad influence on GA, but also some pay drivers with seemingly unlimited funding. I see some of the pay drivers in Rolex also racing Conti for more track time. I believe it was some of these that caused the big wreck at the start of the Barber Conti race, and I never heard of any punishment for that. I suppose when you're paying to race the full Rolex season, ALMS, etc, you treat Conti races the way guys like me treat indoor karts.

IMO the solution is suspensions to drivers that cause wrecks. Any monetary penalty would not be fair.

stuttgart46

Randy, that would be a great series.
ALMS is looking at bringing the GTE-AM class to the states next season or 2014. This would be a great addition to ALMS IMHO. I would like to see them allow cars up to 4 years old in that class and keep the rule about only having (1) pro driver on the team. We'll see what happens.

gums

All good commentary, I'm just glad that Sports Car racing is healthy in the US. Those are big fields.

gbuff

Last race I watched I think there were only 10 or 11 DPs in the field....too bad as I do enjoy watching them along with the GTs.

Gary

gbuff

It is indeed the British Touring Cars, and I absolutely love watching it...they've been replaying all the races during the winter along with DTM and others which helps me make it through to April when I'm back on track!

Gary

BGB Motorsports

Actually, not that anyone would know this because it isn't posted anywhere, but this season race control made it known to a few people fixing their cars that caused accidents during races, not to bother trying to put them back on the track.

Barber was one of them.

I thought that was pretty interesting.

disasterman

Nice job this year BGB. It's still a great series to watch. As a potential seat buyer, I have watched the carnage with special interest.

GTgears

Shameless plug here for a local boy who has made it into the big pond:
http://jalopnik.com/5925179/robb-hol...rs-in-37-years

Robb was telling me about how the BTC got fed up with all the FIA bureaucracy and arms race spending and split off with their own S2000 series. In many ways it is still a "spec" series, but it does allow teams to make their own decisions. There is a spec 2.0l engine made just for the series, but they are also allowed to run any 2.0l engine that is made by the marque they represent if they prefer that to the spec engine. I love the idea.

While I love the Conti series and think it's the best sportscar racing in North America, the influx of factory money does bother me a bit. There's $450k factory built Aston Martins along with factory Ford Mustangs and Riley built Camaros. And then you've got our P-car heros like BGB and Rum Bum who are running cars that were sold at a dealer near you and built and prepped privately by small operations like BGB and DeMan Motorsports. I root for them partly because they are P-cars but also because it is proper "grassroots" racing with something they built, not something they bought from the factory.

rlm328

One of the most fun to watch with exceptional racing is the Australian Super V-8s. Exemplary racing, real cars, and good action without a lot of wrecks.